sections

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of section.

   The museum closed two of its sections for renovation.

   Inspectors checked the welded sections of the pipeline for cracks.

   Note

   One plural covers several different kinds of division. It can mean the string or brass sections of an orchestra, the major parts of a document, slices cut from a specimen, or the cross-sections an engineer draws to show an object cut along a plane. Nothing in the form tells these apart; the surrounding words do. In documents the § sign often stands in for the word itself.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of section.

   The surgeon carefully sections the tissue before examining it under the microscope.

   The editor sections the long manuscript into manageable chapters.

   Note

   The present-tense verb always takes an object: a technician sections tissue thin enough for the microscope, and an editor sections a manuscript. In the UK, Australia and New Zealand it carries a heavier meaning. To section someone is to commit them for mental-health treatment against their will, a usage named after sections of mental-health law. The same spelling serves the plural noun, and only the sentence tells them apart.

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